Legally Obscene: Rape, Statutory Rape, and Child Support

One day we will all see child support for what it really is…a transfer of money from fathers to mothers. It has nothing to do with supporting children. I have been saying this over and over and over again. Here is yet another example of why I feel child support laws need SERIOUS reform.

From the A Voice For Men article by Walter Romans

An excerpt:

Statutory rape laws have often been controversial and unequally applied to male and female victims and perpetrators. While very few believe that sexual activity with minors who have not yet reached puberty (child molestation) is acceptable, many believe that once a child has reached puberty, the child should be capable of providing consent to sexual activity. Statutory rape laws are based on the premise that persons below a specified age or who suffer from certain mental deficiencies are incapable of providing consent. These laws make it illegal for adults to coerce children into having sex.

Historically, statutory rape laws were designed to protect teenage girls from males who may take their virginity, impregnate them, and refuse to take responsibility and marry them. Thus, they served the purpose of protecting the honor of the girl and of preventing teenage pregnancy. They also helped to ensure the child would have a means of support. It wasn’t until much later that these laws began to be applied to protect boys as well. However, the application remains quite uneven.

According to the DOJ, 95% of statutory rape victims reported to law enforcement are female, yet many studies have determined that boys comprise a much higher percentage of the victims. For instance, Dorais estimates that one in six boys will be sexually abused before the age of 16.

Social attitudes are primarily responsible for the double standard. According to Miriam Denov, there is a “myth of innocence” surrounding female sexuality that frequently regards sex between a young male and an older female to be a rite of passage and that it is somehow acceptable or less harmful than when the other way around. Further, boys are taught not to view themselves as victims as this is “unmanly.”

Law enforcement may not take such complaints seriously. In a previous post (Living in a Culture of Denial), I discussed the problems with the attitude of law enforcement towards male victims. Officers and other professionals may even redefine the act so as to make it acceptable. Even the male victims may view it as a positive experience and not a crime, leading to gross underreporting. In what may be the most bizarre denial of the existence of male victims, courts have held that male victims of rape can be held responsible for child support.

In California, an appellate court upheld an order (San Luis Obispo Count y v. Nathan J., 1996) forcing a 15 year old boy to pay child support to his rapist after she became pregnant and gave birth.The court ruled that although the boy was considered too young to provide consent to the sex act, he was an admitted willing participant and therefore liable to pay support stating that he was not an “innocent victim” because he had discussed it with his rapist prior to having sex.

That this act was illegal and may have constituted coercion was apparently lost on the court. If the boy is considered legally incapable of providing consent, how can he be considered legally liable for giving that consent? Any consent or cooperation on his part should have been considered coercion and therefore not consent at all.

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In total agreement- as a father who did not get to see his daughter as she grew up, but was expected to give my wages to a treacherous mother who hung out with paedophiles, the only option seemed to be remain unemployed until she grew up!

The article you quote is also correct. I lad I know very well was gang raped, in full view, in a park. Nobody stopped it happening. Police did nothing. So sad. It hurt him no less than if they had raped a girl.

Yeah welcome to my world, statatory raped in the legal sense. The woman breaks up with me, apparently has my child, and waits 8 years for me to graduate college to break it to me by filing for child support. Meanwhile I’m a single father raising my daughter on my own with the help of no one. Pulled this off (paying child support and raising a kid on my own) for 9 years until I lost my job. Tried to get it reduced and they wouldn’t even reduce it by 1 cent. Here I am 2 years later still no job enrolled in grad school and they’ve taken everything from us. I don’t even have a drivers license anymore to drive my kid to school, she is forced to use public transportaiton. And I found out if I still lived in the state that I grew up in where the statatory surprise rapist still lives, I’d be thrown in jail. How’s that for “child support”? Guess it depends on the child. We should re-name it “Only Certain Children Supported”